Have you decorated your garage lately?

Have a street facing garage? That is an asset in the "fairy tale" town of Carmel-by-the-Sea,  in California. Let's examine together.....you might have another decorating project!

LOVE the above patina, it never occurred to me to put such effort into these often neglected doors.  

notice how the drive pulls everything together?

A perpendicular wooden trellis is perfect for supporting Rapunzel like vines. 

Noticing the hardware on these doors? It gets even better.......

This is my favorite! Oh the weathered patina, the hand hewn beams turned supports.......that hardware, the whole look is very French Normandy

Notice the subtle upturn of the roofline? How about those integrated columns, the exterior sill under the tiny window?

Reminiscent of over scaled French shutters. the size and scale of the light fixtures are perfect

Let's examine this closely;  notice the stone columns? As in most of these examples the garage is an additional focal point......how many of us can proclaim that? Take a close look at another aspect I love; all of the garage doors are made to 'look' like they open from the center, see the horizontal lines? Nearly all US garage doors are roll up's. When Steve built our barn we wanted the same look for our overhead door. He accomplished that by building it himself, purchasing the overhead fixtures, assembling horizontal boards, and adding  handles like the photo above. The hunt will resume for killer hardware. 

 Carrying forth the architectural elements

These architectural  elements have made all the doors special, yes the inherent architecture helps....a lot, but here are some ideas you can do now

- add "center opening" hardware

-add side hardware 'straps' taking it a step further

-they all are exceptional extensions of the homes architecture (repeating elements)

-be certain your lighting is up to date and to scale 

How about no garage, just a portico....perhaps if life was in a California climate, i can only dream

Utter perfection in a one car garage.

Utter perfection in a vintage car; my dream; a British (of course British);   

  Morris Minor

Fifi O'Neill

The charming Fifi at our shop.

 I was not aware that she is French; "Fifi"-yes, of course! And I fell in love with her instantly, charming, funny, self-depricating, lovely................

I would recommend this book highly. My personal style is not feminine, prairie, shabby chic, etc. but there are many elements in this book I enjoyed and will attempt to replicate. Did you also know it is not really a decorating book? It weaves the tales of the women who not only created their style but indeed live the lifestyle. Shhhh.......she is working on a second book, hint; it will be 'yummy'

Happy week

debra